A man has been fined for category 2 and 3 WHS breaches and ordered to forfeit unsafe plant for destruction, after two of his patrons were seriously injured.
A man has been convicted of two category-1 WHS breaches - the first reckless conduct convictions recorded in his jurisdiction. After he was sentenced, a regulator slammed his workplace's stoic culture and the inaction of witnesses to a teenage worker's serious burns.
In a case involving a four-year legal battle and High Court ruling on the reach of WHS laws, a PCBU has been convicted and fined $120,000 over the death of a patron in a ballooning incident.
A company and its director have been convicted and fined, and issued WHS project and training orders, over the electrocution of an unsupervised apprentice, in a unique case, while two employers and a director have been charged over a switchboard shock.
A PCBU has unsuccessfully contended its fatality-related WHS charges should be dismissed for being "ambiguous" and "prolix". A superior court found the particulars of the charges clearly accused the PCBU of failing to ensure workers complied with safety rules for confined spaces, and creating the risk of almost certain death to any worker who fell because of that failure.
A PCBU allegedly failed to enforce safety standards and created a culture of non-compliance that led to a fatality, a judge has heard in upholding the business's WHS charge. However, the judge struck out a complaint against the business's co-defendant.